Foraged & Found | A Filipinx-Jewish Feast

this meal explored food through the lens of identity as we embrace honoring traditions while also uncovering new and unique ways to express our heritage and rituals at the dinner table.

From honoring her Filipinx heritage through a first-generation-American lens to finding ritual in Jewish tradition with her husband—for Chef Abby Ricarte, navigating identity through food is both a complicated and rewarding challenge. The reward is when she can share these food expressions at the dinner table, like her ube challah for Rosh Hashanah, ukoy latkes for Hanukkah, and matzo ball caldo for Passover.

Abby started to find community in cooking during the height of the pandemic through her Instagram and Tiktok (abbycooksdinner) and through sharing recipes with the Jersey City Cooking Club. After the loss of her daughter, she cooked through grief and found community once again through teaching virtual cooking classes for family-centered non-profit organizations like Little Essentials and Every Mother Counts. And most recently, Abby has looked to heal through cooking after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She believes that seasonal cooking is the most nourishing, especially when shared—and through the seasons of life.

Chef Abby welcomed us to her Filipinx-Jewish menu with a Salatim course of small plates for guests to share throughout the meal. The Salatim included a colorful spread of Sukang Cauliflower, Beet + Turnip Atchara, Salsa Verde, Delicata Kalabasa + Dill, Calamansi Carrots and Hemp Seed Tabbouleh.

Abby’s first course was an eggplant adobo served with grapes, tahini, red cabbage and pine nuts followed by a second course of garlic fried kasha varnishkes with puffed rice dukkah and chives as a nod to her Jewish husband and the food they have come to enjoy together. The final course featured a slow-cooked Darke Pines brisket marinated in banana ketchup served over munggo, winter greens, romanesco and pickled shallots (a magical mashup of Miki’s grandma’s brisket and Abby’s mom’s lumpia). Each course included a paired selection of wine by the team at Riverview Wine.

Dessert was a sweet potato pie served with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream lovingly added to each slice at the table side (just like her Aunt used to do it) by Erica Messmer (@asouthernchef) of The Downtowner. Dessert was paired with a fermented and aged tangerine pu-erh tea sourced by Fayee Wong and served in handmade mugs by Candice Aquino of Some Ceramics in Jersey City.

The venue for our evening was Sure Things, a vintage shop in the Jersey City Heights beautifully curated by co-owners Marinell Montales and John Trigonis. The tablescape designed by Marinell Montales incorporated visual elements of the forest floor with a variety of mushrooms sustainably grown by LifeCap Farms in their Jersey City warehouse and foraged greenery. Place settings featured menus and partner cards designed by Marinell Montales using illustrations drawn by Chef Abby Ricarte herself. Our napkins for the evening were repurposed white linen napkins given new life by Selena Vesely (@urlocalforestlday) with a natural dye method using black beans, onion skins and dried flowers.

As the evening concluded guests received a gift bag of mushrooms from LifeCap Farms and a mini Lodge cast iron skillet.

We are grateful for the contributions that made this evening possible and allowed us to donate the proceeds of this meal to two organizations close to Chef Abby Ricarte’s heart: Little Essentials for their work providing children's items for families in need and Welcome Home for their work providing educational, employment and material support to refugees, asylees and asylum seekers in the Jersey City area. Abby and her husband Miki graciously matched this donation in honor of their daughter, Zohara.

Thanks to our Contributors

@abbycooksdinner
@surethings_
@amber.breitenberg
@asouthernchef
@darkepines
@lifecapfarmsnj
@riverviewwinejc
@someceramics
@urlocalforestlady
@foodwithfayee

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